Incineration
by windsabove
Summary: Sikana Flitchinder, an aspiring daredevil performer, and her rowdy team of Pokemon leave the city of Santalune in the hopes of providing quality entertainment for the people of Kalos. Along the way, they wind up falling into the hands of a criminal organization and becoming the center of their latest scheme.


The only reason Sikana knew about the beautiful sunrise that summer morning was because she might as well have been slapped awake. She sat up quickly and started babbling all sorts of incoherent nonsense before a black paw lightly tapped her on the shoulder to snap her out of it. When she finally stopped and looked over at the culprit, a wave of relief washed over her.

"Oh, it's just you, Lucario. Thought it was Kirlia again," she said, an amused smile crossing her face. Lucario seemed entertained by her early morning startle, but instead of blatantly giving that away, he gestured towards the window, drawing her attention to the fading sunrise. "Wow, that's a sight…oh right! Sparring match! Let's go!" Lucario stepped out of the way so she could hop out of bed and run towards the stairs, her dark brown hair in a long tangled mess from her heavy sleep. Upon reaching the top step, she decided to slide down the banister in favor of walking down the stairs like a normal human being. Sikana pondered her unusually chipper attitude along the way. Considering the horrors that normally followed such an early wake-up call, she was a bit perturbed that none of them occurred for once. In her opinion, it was a morning for the record books.

Speaking of unwanted wake-up calls, Sikana remembered at the last second that her mom was still sleeping and opted for a soft landing at the bottom of the stairs...as soft as nearly flying into the wall could sound, anyway. It was times like those that she wished they had a carpeted floor near the stairs instead of a wooden one. After regaining her balance, she looked to her right and tilted her head a bit. Lucario was already at the bottom of the stairs with her.

"I swear, sometimes I think you teleport down the stairs…but then I remember you're not a Psychic type…" She shrugged. "Meh. Let's get to the forest before everyone wakes up." She started making her way towards the kitchen where the family's little team of Squirtle decided to sleep; all three of them were huddled on the table. They helped Sikana wash the dishes when there was a lot to do, and by the looks of them, they must have been fooling with the sink right after she went to bed. She felt around the floor near the sink with her feet. All clear. Her mom would never know…well, maybe not. She gave one of the Squirtle a pat on the head before she headed out the back door towards Santalune Forest, Lucario not too far behind.

Going around the city barefoot wasn't one of Sikana's better ideas, but the cool cobblestone felt nice against her callused skin. That and no one was awake to witness her running about unkempt, not even the visiting Trainers. Silence was key in getting to their destination, and that was all the more reason _not_ to go clomping around in her sneakers. However, her worries about rousing Santalune fell away when her toes finally hit dirt, the path to Santalune Forest stretching out before her and her fighting companion.

The shade from the trees always reminded her of all of the Trainers that came through there, resting underneath the canopy of leaves with their teams in between sessions. But she didn't have to worry about them yet. For now, it was just her, Lucario and the myriad of bug Pokémon crawling around in the taller grass, not to mention other types. Sikana and her Fighting Pokémon usually stuck to the paths, though. She hated the idea of accidentally stepping on a tiny helpless bug. After wandering for a bit, she found a starting point that wasn't too full of tall grass and spun on her heel. She took the hair tie that she left on her wrist the night before and put her hair up in some sort of messy bun in one fluid motion.

"Alright Lucario…ready?" He gave a nod. Lucario was on the quiet side, but she'd known him long enough. They didn't need many words to communicate. She walked back a few steps and took a stance. It struck Sikana then and there that not only had it been a while since they'd last sparred, but she couldn't even remember exactly how long it had been. She bit her lip.

Before she could begin thinking of a way out, her Pokémon was coming at her with a jump kick that she almost managed to dodge, but her legs decided that they weren't going to work. Instead of letting her gracefully roll out of the way, they half-melted in terror and her arm took most of the hit. The kick made her stumble back a ways as she tried to get her legs to solidify again and, once she recovered, proceeded to spend the next half hour being utterly decimated by her own Pokémon. Despite this, Sikana silently thanked whatever higher power made her decide that morning sparring sessions were a good idea. She didn't need more embarrassment in the form of Trainers witnessing her blunders.

However, just as she was about to give up and call it a day, Sikana spotted a low-hanging tree branch just a few feet in front of her. In a last-ditch effort, she dashed past Lucario and sprung up towards the tree branch, swinging on it a few times before taking off with a flying kick. It would have worked, but she had taken too long and Lucario could sense what she was up to by the time she let go of the branch. What had been a perfect plan of attack turned into her crashing into the nearest patch of tall grass, dazing her for a minute. When she stopped being dizzy, there was a small group of Caterpie peering at her, as if they were half wondering whether or not she was edible. They all skittered away when she sat up, blades of grass stuck in her already messy bun to compliment the dirt on her face. Sikana spat out a blade or two before a black paw grabbed her hand and helped her out of the grass. She looked up at Lucario and gave him a worn out smile.

"Good match. I'll win someday, though." Sikana's joints didn't believe the words coming out of her mouth, but she stuck a smile on and ignored the thought of being sore tomorrow. Part of her hoped that Lucario would go easy on her and let her win one of these days, but she knew she had to practice more and earn it. Besides, the taller-than-average fighter wasn't one to ease up in a match because of a friend. That's what Sikana drilled into her brain as they started making their way back towards the house, her legs still shaky from the fight. By the time they made it back, an Eevee was looking through the kitchen window at them. She could see a hint of betrayal in those big eyes, even behind the window's glass. So she picked up the pace, trying not to lose her balance, and dashed inside, Lucario being the only force stopping her from slamming the door.

"Hey, you!" she whispered, walking over to the window where Eevee sat. The adorable fluffball looked like she'd been smacked across the face. "I wasn't gone for long, silly. Half an hour tops." She wouldn't let up. "Oh come on, don't use the Baby Doll Eyes on me. You know I can't take that." Still nothing. If anything, her eyes grew larger. "Okay okay, it was more than half an hour. But I have to go out and practice, otherwise I'll never improve." There was another minute of pouting before Sikana sighed and decided to pick the Pokémon up and let her climb up on her shoulder. "Sometimes, I really wonder about you," she mumbled, gently ruffling the top of her head. Sikana felt bad petting Eevee, since her hands were so dirty from the sparring match, but Eevee didn't seem to mind too much. She just really enjoyed the brunette's company, even if there were leaves sticking out of her hair. She giggled a bit as Eevee attempted to bite some of the plant life.

"Causing a ruckus again, Sikana?" After she jumped a foot in the air at her mom's voice, Sikana glanced out the window. The sun wasn't so low on the horizon anymore, so she probably woke up on her own…she could hope, anyway. Sikana turned to face her, Eevee still picking leaves out of her hair. Her mother didn't look too disheveled. She had managed to pull her dark hair back and change, so Sikana figured that her oh so stellar entrance happened after she was already awake. Having a champion fighter, especially Yvette Flitchinder, for a mother could be horribly intimidating at times.

"Hi, Mom. Just went out for an early morning sparring match, is all."

"I see that. Several neighbors walked outside and seemed concerned that you were barefoot and covered in dirt." Sikana sighed a bit. That was almost as bad as random Trainers seeing her run around like a ragamuffin. "Anyway, how'd it go?"

"Umm…" Her embarrassment knew no bounds, but she knew the subject wasn't going to be dropped so easily. "…Lucario won again. I'm a bit rusty." Yvette raised an eyebrow.

"Did he? Hmm…I was hoping he'd go easy on you today. It's your birthday, after all."

"That's the problem. I think he did-wait, what?" That certainly explained why Sikana hadn't murdered anyone upon waking. The brunette made a mental note to take her temperature later.

"It's not like you to forget that."

"Yeah, I know…huh."

Her mom smiled. "Your dad left you a present."

Sikana made a quizzical face. "I thought Dad left for that trip to Kanto a few days ago."

"He put it under the stairs before he went. I'm surprised you didn't go snooping." Sikana shook her head and laughed a bit. Her dad wasn't around as much as she would have liked, but such was the life of a businessman. It surprised her that he remembered at all, given how busy he was most of the time.

"Can I open it now?"

"Maybe you should clean yourself up first." Sikana thought about pleading with her, but she realized that whatever big eyes she put on weren't going to be nearly as effective as Eevee's. So, she reluctantly set Eevee down on a chair (much to the Pokémon's dismay) and trudged upstairs to shower. A pass by the downstairs mirror nearly made her jump out of her skin. With all of that dirt, no wonder the neighbors had so many concerns.

Once she scrubbed away every last fleck of grime, Sikana put her hair back in a single loose braid and threw on her usual summer attire: a tank top and shorts. Scratch that, it was her everyday attire, even when the snow began to fall. Pants and long sleeves were a last resort. Even skirts were better, and she only wore those for the tiny shows she managed to get together once in a while. An aspiring performer had to have an outfit of some sort.

Sikana paused midway from her room to the downstairs world. Santalune finally lifted the ban on her shows and she'd gotten too excited to not schedule the next event on her birthday. It didn't help that she'd forgotten her birthday existed to begin with. Curses started slipping out of her mouth when something suddenly slammed into her back. She bent over in pain, cursing even louder, and looked over to see Kirlia peeking around the corner.

"You," she snarled. Kirlia's eyes squinted with glee.

Kirlia, like most of the Pokémon in her house, was either abandoned or coaxed out of the wild. Her dad brought the Psychic type home one day when she was still a Ralts and Sikana was a younger girl. Sikana didn't remember much from those days, so it was hard for her to say what she could have done to make this Pokémon hate her. Still, for as long as the brunette could remember, Kirlia had had a personal vendetta against her. She pulled tricks on Sikana with constant vigilance, but barely on anyone else. Currently, the Psychic Pokémon's favorite activity was telekinetically throwing the nearest object at the girl. Sikana liked to think that she'd made a valiant effort in her attempts to understand Kirlia. If anything, their interactions only perpetuated her belief that she could never get along with Psychic Pokémon. That was another issue in and of itself.

"Sikana, play nice with Kirlia." Her mom's voice floated up the stairs right on cue. Sikana straightened up as best as she could, her back still aching from the impact, and glanced down at the projectile. At least it was a cook book. Last time it was a book on the history of Kalos. That bruise stuck around for _weeks_.

"We're fine, Mom, don't worry," Sikana called back, stealing one last dirty look at Kirlia before shuffling her way downstairs. When she finally made it to the bottom step, she noticed a fluffy orange-ish tail sticking out from under the steps and laughed.

"Braixen, what are you doing under there?" Braixen poked his head up and let out a chirp, handing Sikana a box wrapped in shiny paper."You're more impatient than I am! C'mon, let's go see what's inside." She started walking towards the kitchen, Braixen not too far behind, and set the present down on the table. A strange noise caught her attention, so she went to look out the window, her eyebrows morphing into a confused arch at the sight in the backyard.

"Mom? Did you teach Pikachu Strength?"

"Well, yes," Yvette began. "I needed someone to help me with those rocks in the yard. It's never been the same since that one group of Trainers came through with their Rock types. She was eager to learn it, anyway. This gives her something to do so she doesn't run around zapping Trainers that get too close." Sikana couldn't help but giggle at the thought of their Pikachu pushing rocks more than twice her size.

"Anyway…I kind of agreed to do a show tonight without realizing what today was."

Her mom sighed a bit. "Well, there will still be time to celebrate afterwards, right? The cake won't be ready until then, anyway." Sikana grinned. She wouldn't miss that cake for the world.

Sikana proceeded to shovel a sizeable breakfast into her mouth, stealing glances at the gift on the table every few seconds. It wasn't really said, but earlier her mom had given her a glance that basically meant 'save it for later'. The girl didn't know who was more disappointed, her or Braixen, but he had the task of helping her out to keep his mind off of it. The first agenda on their list: waking up Charizard.

Out of the two Fire Pokémon she had by her side, Charizard was by far the most difficult to wake. In that sense she could sympathize, but they had quite a few things to do and sleeping wasn't an option (as much as she wanted it to be). Guilt plagued her as she quietly approached the slumbering pseudodragon, Braixen on her left and Lucario to her right. Lucario's presence alone perturbed her. He would be the first to jump in if Charizard went apeshit, and they had a rough history with each other as it was. But there was no talking him out of it. She could only hope it didn't come to that. Waking Charizard up was rough enough without a brawl breaking out or the flowerbed being set aflame for the upteenth time. But what else was she going to do? Throw Pikachu at Charizard and hope for the best? It didn't exactly sound like the best idea she'd ever had.

But there they were, standing in front of her happily curled up Charizard in the back yard, Pikachu still pushing rocks not too far away. Braixen looked like he was formulating some sort of plan that involved the stick in his tail, since he'd taken it out and started twirling it around. Lucario looked neutral, but Sikana knew he was thinking. She placed some Pokepuffs off to the side in the grass and after a minute of pondering, she glanced back to make sure Pikachu hadn't snuck away from her rock-pushing duties to snack on one. Not a single pastry was missing. The electric mouse was still tackling her job like a champ. Turning back to the task at hand, the brunette let out a quiet sigh.

"Okay. I'm gonna go in first. Braixen, if that doesn't work I want you to be as annoying as you possibly can with that stick. And if that doesn't work, Lucario…you know what to do." Her stomach churned at the thought, but throwing up mushy pancakes was not on her to-do list. Sikana swallowed hard and took a few steps forward before sitting down next to Charizard in the grass, petting his head.

"Hey, Charizard. You awake?" she asked quietly. He made some sort of noise, but she couldn't tell if he was still dreaming or if he was actually waking up. "C'mon, we've a got a show today. Everyone's talking about you! Don't you wanna show them what you can do?" Nothing that time. Sikana made a face and motioned for Braixen to throw her a Pokepuff. He scurried over to the pile, picked one up and tossed it her way, nearly hitting Charizard in the face with it. She silently thanked her hands for working and looked down at it. The perfect citrus puff for a grumpy citrus puff lover. She started waving it slowly in front of his face. One of his shiny blue eyes opened, staring directly at her. "I've got your favorite. I'll let you have it if you get up, okay?" Charizard grumbled a bit, but sat up after a minute or two and gladly ate the Pokepuff she had. They all breathed a sigh of relief. Fiery crisis averted.

By the time they had almost everything set up and checked over, a couple of hours had gone by. Some of the people in town were nice enough to set up a small stage for her performance. Sikana was grateful, although she couldn't help but wonder about their sudden interest. Maybe they thought she'd improved since the last fiasco...or they were looking forward to her next screw up. She had a knack for handling those with a certain grace...if running around putting out numerous fires counted as graceful. She liked to think it did, but maybe being so close to the city's fountain wasn't such a bad idea in the long run.

A couple of breaks and last minute supply runs later, the sun was losing its afternoon shine and Sikana had yet to change. She was about to run home and grab her stage clothes when she turned around and found them there near some of the supplies. Either she'd actually remembered to bring them or her mom had snuck by when she wasn't looking. Shrugging, she slipped into a nearby boutique to get changed. The shirt, skirt, socks and boots that she pulled on were embellished with rich red designs. She thought about her home for a minute as she wandered towards the stage, putting her hair up in a high ponytail. Yvette always set up a picnic for the Pokémon that couldn't or didn't want to get too close to the explosions but still wanted to watch. They couldn't see everything, but they enjoyed it all the same. As a small crowd started to gather, Sikana grinned at the thought of how excited they probably were.

Sikana peeked out from behind the stage to see what was going on. There were a bunch of Trainers crowded around to see what was happening, along with some folks that lived in the city. A few Santalune City Gym badges reflected the lit torches that stood on either side of the stage. The sun began to set, casting deep shadows over the stage as the torches glowed even brighter. Soon, she would only be able to see the crowd's faces by the light of the fires. Charizard was hunkered down behind the stage, and Braixen was ready to hop up with Sikana on her signal. Time seemed to slow down as they sat there, eager to start. As soon as she saw the last orange sparkle dip down below the tree line, she and Braixen crept onstage. The audience was totally unaware until Braixen lit up more torches, revealing her presence. Everyone seemed to jump at the sudden source of light.

"Surprised?" Sikana began, her smooth-talking stage persona starting to take hold. "I assure you, this is no normal stage. This is a stage … of _trickery_." A flaming hoop flew over her head, and her hand shot out to catch and twirl it. The crowd gasped, then cried out when she threw it above her hoop soared a few yards before bursting into an array of colors, captivating her audience. A huge smile began to creep onto her face, but she quickly shifted it into a smirk. In her opinion, no one wanted to see a teenager giggling over her own handiwork.

One trick after another, she kept them cheering. She expected the larger fireworks to make the crowd scatter in fear, but instead they erupted with excitement. It helped that she had better control over explosives now. She supposed there were upsides to setting the garden on fire, after all. The audience absolutely adored the way Braixen scurried about and helped Sikana light up one thing after another. They also found his little fire tricks to be charming. They were a little unsure about Charizard at first, but he became a crowd favorite in no time. He hadn't proven anything to the brunnette yet, though. They still had a finale to conduct, and she was praying he wouldn't incinerate the audience. She made her way to center stage again, hoping that this final part wouldn't be what did her in. She couldn't afford another inferno.

"I thank you for gracing us with your presence tonight." Sikana took a low bow, extending her arms out to the sides as the crowd cheered for more. Slowly, she straightened back up, acknowledging their desire for more fire power. "Fear not. I won't be leaving you without a proper send-off. What would this show be without a finale of its own?" More cheers bubbled up as she stepped into position, checking to make sure that the proper areas were cleared. The fireworks that sat by the edge of the stage were just far enough away from the evenly spaced sparklers that the embers wouldn't ignite them prematurely. She could sense Charizard getting ready to unleash a fiery blast to send those fireworks into the sky. Braixen was ready to dodge. She heard the pseudodragon inhale.

Braixen and Sikana hit the floor as gracefully as a chicken could take to flight. Charizard's flaming breath streamed over the stage, lighting up the fuses and the surrounding air. He only stopped when the countless fireworks took off and exploded into silhouettes of Pokémon, the colorful sparks meshing with the stars. She heard some people panic as they dove, but when she looked up most of them were cheering and clapping at the show Sikana and her Pokémon had finally managed to pull off. The girl pulled herself up and took a few bows, Braixen joining her not long after. She couldn't stop smiling now that she knew she could perform without threatening the livelihood of the Bug Gym.

Sikana perked up at the sound of metal clinking onto the stage. Upon closer inspection, she realized that some of the Trainers were tossing money her way, along with the occasional flower. A quiet giggle escaped her mouth as she picked up a small flower and stuck it behind her ear, then waved to the dissipating crowd. Once the people had gone, Braixen helped her pack up the remaining supplies and gather the money and the remaining flowers before the stage was broken down. She hopped off of the wooden platform, only to have Charizard nudge her gently.

"You did great! I'm so proud of you, both of you!" Still buzzing with excitement, she went backstage to pick up her discarded clothes and stow the collected money in her bag. She was about to leave when she heard someone loudly talking about the show. She wasted no time diving into a nearby bush to listen in, Braixen following suit. Charizard sat hidden in the nearby shadows.

"Letting her Charizard light those fireworks like that. I bet she hasn't been to Trainer School in her life!" That sounded like one of the passing Trainers she had seen in the crowd. He had been chatting with his friends before the show, and he hadn't looked all that excited to be there.

"Oh come on, everything turned out fine! The show was great, and she looked like she had everything under control."

"Doesn't matter. She could've easily set everything on fire with that Pokémon. It was a stupid move. Hope she doesn't plan on becoming a Pokémon Trainer. Even if she made it past this Gym, the rest would eat her alive. She's not worth battling with on a _good_ day. What am I saying? She isn't even a good entertainer. She's got nothing."

Any good feelings Sikana had before disappeared and were replaced with a horrible pressure building in her head and her fists. She wanted nothing more than to jump out of the bushes and punch some faces. Instead, she waited for them to leave before creeping out of her hiding spot, putting a hand up to stop Charizard.

"Don't. It's…he's not worth it." She was lying to herself. It would totally be worth it, seeing this guy's nose bleed profusely and his hair burn. But she had to set a good example. Charizard had enough control issues without her help. "Let's get home, guys…forget about him." Except she couldn't. The path back to her house would have been set aflame if she'd had such abilities. Instead, her nails dug into her hands as she walked, strings of profanities flying out of her mouth. She was quiet about it at first, but by the time she reached the front door, she was practically shouting. Before entering, she paused, gripping the frame with one hand. Charizard had already retreated to the back yard, but Braixen came running up to her, bouquet still in hand. She attempted to smile. Judging by the fire fox's startled expression, it turned out to be more of a grimace.

"Thanks, Braixen…give a flower to Kirlia for me, will you? I'm sure she'd like it." Sikana opened the door and let him scurry inside before stomping in and slamming it behind her. Yvette poked her head out from the kitchen at the noise.

"Everything okay, hun?" The brunette turned her attention to her mother.

"Is it still illegal to set people on fire?"

"Oh no." Her mom was by her side before she could think about speeding past her.

"Mom, I swear-"

"Calm down, Sikana-"

"Talking shit about Charizard-"

"Sikana-"

"He was such an _asshole_!" Sikana's fists clenched tighter. "He doesn't know all the shit I had to go through just to get this far! How much time I put into _everything_!"

"You're right. He doesn't." Yvette sighed, gently taking Sikana's bags and setting them down on the floor. "But sometimes, people make decisions about someone without thinking about the other party's experiences. It happens to the best of us. And once in a while, we do it ourselves."

Sikana huffed. "Doesn't mean they have to shit all over my Pokémon, too."

"No, but we're a really judgmental sort. Lots of people blame a Pokémon's behavior on the people they're exposed to the most. That's a part of things, but it doesn't define them completely. Just like a lot of things define us." She wrapped an arm around the steaming pyrotechnician. "People make lots of dumb decisions, and that's one of the harshest realities you'll face. Don't let it dig under your skin too much. Besides, it's your birthday. You can smash a slice of cake in and pretend it's this dude's face." That got a small smile out of Sikana. It wasn't as good as smashing said guy's face in, but at least smashing some cake didn't come with any lawsuits.

After chatting about money tossed and flowers thrown, Sikana felt herself simmering down. Then she was greeted with a standing ovation when she entered the kitchen. Giggling a bit, she sat down at the table then jumped when Pikachu hopped into her lap (even though the electric mouse knew very well she was competing with Eevee for that spot). Yvette took the time to open the window so Charizard could join in on the celebration. Braixen sat to the girl's left, Lucario to her right. Everyone was full of energy, especially when they got to the cake and her mother conducted a birthday song. Sixteen years and Sikana's cheeks still flushed a bright pink without fail.

It was a little while before they got to presents. As soon as they did, though, Braixen started staring intently at the gift that had been sitting on the table since this morning. He seemed absolutely fascinated with it.

"I think Braixen wants me to open Dad's first, Mom."

"Your pick, birthday girl." Sikana thought about picking something else just to tease Braixen, but went ahead and pulled it closer, untying the blue ribbon on top.

"Okay, Lucario. You know the drill." He didn't protest, just held out his right hand and let her tie the decoration around his wrist. It was tradition, after all. Ever since they'd become friends on her ninth birthday, anyway. That was seven years ago, and as Sikana was carefully adjusting the ribbon, she felt nostalgic. Thinking on it made her feel like they'd met in another era.

A little chirp from Braixen brought her back to reality. She gave a small smile to Lucario before turning her attention to the shiny box. She started to unwrap it as gently as she could, trying not to ruin the effort her dad had gone to. However, like every birthday before, she wound up ripping it to shreds and tossed the paper scraps into the air, making a shower of silver rain down all over the kitchen. Her mom rolled her eyes and brushed the scraps off of her shoulders as Sikana popped the tape off of the box and poked her head inside.

"No. Way," she muttered, lifting her head up. Her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. A chuckle escaped from Yvette.

"Any wider and those pretty green eyes are going to pop!" Sikana giggled and took the gift out of the box. It was a deluxe firework set, some of the finest in Kalos. There were explosives she couldn't even _dream_ of making with her ramshackle supplies. It was absolutely beautiful.

"How did Dad know?" Sikana finally managed to squeak out after a minute of staring at the gift.

"Remember that trip we took to Lumiose a month or two ago? Your dad knew how much you wanted that set. You didn't think he noticed you ogling it, did you?" She was right. Sikana thought no one saw her drooling over the display, least of all her dad. That trickster.

"It's wonderful. I…I don't know what else to say." Her hands stayed clamped on the gift like it was going to disappear if she didn't hold on to it for dear life. The rest of the presents were waiting to be released from their decorative prisons and she wasn't about to keep them that way for long.

Several wrapping paper showers later, all of the gifts had been opened. Sikana scanned over them a few times before she noticed a trend. More pyrotechnic equipment, a better lighter, running shoes, a case to hold some of the more dangerous materials…she was grateful for them all, but she couldn't help but think her parents were hinting at something.

"Something wrong, Sikana?" She snapped out of her thoughts and looked over at her mom, who was leaning against the counter. There was a certain look in the woman's eyes.

"No, nothing's wrong. Everything's great. But-"

"But?"

"I…" Sikana paused, not wanting this to come out the wrong way. Eloquence and grace blessed her tongue in her shows, but she wasn't all that great when it came to normal interaction. "I noticed a theme with my gifts this year. Is there anything to that?" Yvette's smile widened.

"We've been thinking that it's time you take your show around Kalos."

Sikana felt like a Slowpoke reacting to a punch in the face. It seemed like hours before she gasped, finally processing what had come out of her mother's mouth. She started to feel dizzy thinking about the possibilities. That was the second time that night she couldn't speak. She shook her head rapidly, trying to wrap her mind around the concept, but she still had trouble getting the words out without squeaking again.

"…Really?" Their belief in her future endeavors seemed over the top even to her. Still, her mother stood there, her smile brightening even more as Sikana's disbelief heightened.

"Think of it as your own kind of adventure. No Trainer Battles, no Gym Badges to fight for. It'll just be you, your Pokémon, and the best fire displays in Kalos. Think you're up for it?" More like terrified. There were all kinds of things that could go awry if she decided to do this. But she was sick of sitting at home and waiting for something exciting to happen. Nothing ever happened to the girl who played with fire in her backyard.

Sikana could sense everyone's eyes on her, waiting for her to make a decision. She thought about how her Pokémon would handle the journey. Braixen always liked exploring new places. New crowds wouldn't bother him, either. It would give Charizard a chance to stretch his wings and get a better handle on traveling via Pokeball. That was going to be a pain in the ass, but she'd deal with it. There was no way in hell that Eevee was going to stay back here and wait for her. The fluffball had enough trouble dealing with Sikana leaving the house without her for five minutes, she was so attached. And Lucario…she knew she wouldn't leave home without him or him without her. It would feel wrong, since he was her best friend. They went almost everywhere together. And someone had to help her stay sharp on her fighting techniques.

Sikana looked up from the table and grinned.

"I'll be leaving in a week."

The stifling silence was quickly broken by some of the loudest cheering she'd ever heard come from their Pokémon. Even Kirlia, who had been perched on the counter next to her mom, looked pleased by the news. She was getting a chance at her dream, a chance to have her own adventure. She had no idea what kind of adventures her performances would take her on.

It couldn't hurt to find out.


End file.
